Tired of breaking the bank just to keep up with the Joneses? Forget fancy cars and other status symbols. How about a way to maintain a friendly neighborly competition that actually involves saving money instead of spending? Americans have a wealth of resources at their disposal to empower families to cut back on energy consumption and reduce their electricity bills, but we don't do a stellar job of taking advantage of that information. Recent research, however, has shown that homeowners are more likely to take efficiency measures with their electrical work when they can compare their own consumption to that of their neighbors.

Whose Bill is the Lowest?

The experiment took place last summer, when the Vermont utility company Green Mountain Power worked with Opower, a software company that specializes in behavioral economics. During very hot days when air conditioning use was expected to be high, the utility reached out to customers with tips on reducing the amount of energy they need to power their home electrical work.

Afterward, the utility gave a report which ranked households in the neighborhood based on how well they had done on cutting back. By the end of the summer, electricity consumption among Green Mountain customers had dropped by five percent during hot days. That's some serious savings!

Peer Pressure at its Best

That five percent resulted from simple behavioral changes like bumping the thermostat up a few degrees and using curtains to block out sunlight during the hottest part of the day – no major investments or new equipment needed, just a little peer pressure. This research should be useful in helping understand what motivates people to save energy in order to develop more effective outreach programs for utility companies around the country.

One of the big takeaways is that the utility didn't give its customers any kind of incentives or payments to change their behavior – just the money they saved through efficiency, and the bragging rights of being more conservation-minded than their neighbors.

"Some of the decisions we make are not entirely rational, and they are due to a lack of context," Kevin Hamilton, Opower's vice president of marketing, said to Utility Drive, "and by providing that context you can encourage individuals to adjust their usage in ways that can benefit both the customer and the utility as well."

Little Changes Mean Big Savings

People come up with all kinds of reasons not to implement efficiency measures: It costs too much in initial capital, they are too busy to think about it, or they simply don't think the savings are worthwhile. But the reality is that even making small behavioral changes can add up in the long run.

If you want to decrease the cost of your electrical work and impress your neighbors, have a qualified home services technician perform an energy audit on your house to identify the most cost-effective ways for you to cut back.

Tackling a few home improvement and maintenance projects yourself can be a great way to save money. However, there are certain jobs better left to the professionals—for the sake of your safety and security and so that you aren’t wasting money on projects you may not be able to successfully complete on your own.

The key to keeping costs down and keeping your home or building safe and secure is knowing which jobs make good DIY projects and which require a little more technical expertise—like electrical work. Working with electricity requires special training and skill. It’s far too dangerous for a novice to learn by him or herself.

There are many reasons it’s important to hire a licensed, professional electrician rather than attempt DIY electrical wiring. If not performed correctly, a do-it-yourself electrical repair can be dangerous and ineffective and can even lead to:

At Kolb Electric, we want your home to be both efficient and safe. That’s why we employ only the most qualified licensed electricians to complete your electrical work. We understand the potential dangers and know how to work with electricity safely.

Electronics are some of the most expensive investments in any home. So how can you be sure you’re safely protecting them from electrical surges? With a whole-home surge protector, you can rest easy that all of your electronics and appliances are protected in the event of a lightning strike or electrical surge.

A whole-home surge protector is installed in your main electrical panel in order to cut off potential electrical surges from flowing into your home’s internal wiring. Whole-home surge protectors can protect up to 40,000 amps of current flowing into your home. When an electrical surge takes place, the device detects the excess energy and safely diverts the surge through the home’s grounding path. This will protect your home from:

This provides an easy, catch-all system that ensures every plug in your home is safe from a surge. Never have to worry about plugging your expensive electronics into standard plug-in surge protectors.

According to the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, the Maryland/Virginia/Washington, DC area is considered at moderate risk for lightning strikes. These, along with other powerful weather events, are strong enough to fry both large and small electronics, including:

By investing in full-home surge protectors, you save yourself the risk of potentially paying thousands to replace your expensive electronic devices and appliances. Don’t suffer later when you can prevent damage up-front!

It is important that typically, it is recommended that you double protect against electric damage by also using standard wall surge protectors. This will make sure that no matter how strong the electrical surge is that hits your home, your valuable electronics will stay safe.

Everyone from the National Fire Protection Association to the Institute for Business and Home Safety recommends the use of whole-house surge protection. Fortunately, great whole-home surge protection is available and affordable! For maximum protection, you’ll want to install a whole-home surge protector at the circuit breaker box and supplement it with smaller surge protectors on individual outlets. A whole-house surge protector can protect your home from up to 40,000 amps of current (normal household power is between 200 to 300 amps). When something like a lightning strike causes such a surge, the surge protector detects the excess current and safely diverts it through the house’s grounding path. Whole-house surge protection provides homeowners in MD, DC, and VA peace of mind when a powerful thunderstorm passes the area.

Kolbe Electric’s electrician team can easily install a top-of-the-line surge protector with ease. Our whole-house surge protectors usually come with lifetime warranties and added protections for possible losses. This means your electronics are double-protected against future loss due to electrical surge! Call Kolb Electric today to learn more about our whole-house surge suppressors for your Maryland, Washington, DC, or Virginia home.

As the top Frisco electrician provider in North Texas, we want you to enjoy your home as much as possible, without costly or dangerous electrical problems. Electrical issues or repairs can zap your time, patience, wallet and, in some cases, your health.

ElectricMan is committed to helping you make the most out of your electrical system, appliances and usage, which is why your top Frisco electrician is giving homeowners some tips on how to take good care of your electrical systems and how to get the most out of your home.

 #1 Turn off the lights and lower your bill.

Electric bills these days can give you headaches in and of themselves. However, there are a few things you can do to lower your bills and still enjoy your electricity. Turning off the lights when you’re not in a room; consider installing a motion sensor switch for the outdoor lights you may forget to turn off.  Unplugging an appliance that you’re not using, or even installing alternative power sources like wind turbines and solar panels can significantly reduce your power consumption without infringing on your everyday usage. You can also use indoor generators to power your home without needing to be connected to the power grid.

#2 Keep up with electrical maintenance in your home.

Doing regular electrical maintenance in your home every two years can mean the difference between a happy, powered home and a mess of molten wire and old circuit breakers that don’t work. Hire your local electrician to come take a look at the entire electrical system in your home, and act upon his recommendations as soon as possible to give your home’s electrical wiring a long life.

#3 Take care of your smoke detectors and your smoke detectors will take care of you.

Smoke detectors are an invaluable and potentially life-saving part of any home. Keeping them in good working order and supplied with fresh batteries might just save your life. Be sure to swap the batteries of your smoke detectors every year (coinciding with the time changes is a good way to remember), and change out detectors every five to seven years.

#4 Protect your home with the right equipment.

Another important aspect of being safe and secure in your home to ensure your home is properly equipped with surge protectors, AFCI breakers and GFCI outlets wherever they are needed. These pieces of equipment not only can protect and preserve valuable appliances or expensive wiring, but they can keep you out of harm’s way in case of an electrical emergency in your home.

#5 Hire a professional for electrical remodeling jobs.

Whether you love hanging lamps or dimmer lights, homeowners who are fond of ambient lighting and are in need of some remodeling should always remember to call their top Frisco electrician to carry out the lighting installation. Installing lighting is a very intricate process that can get difficult and dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.

When you own a home, it’s easy for household expenses to spiral out of control. Every year, the average homeowner is in the unenviable position of spending thousands of dollars on owning and maintaining a home- and that’s just when everything is going well! If an emergency hits, many homeowners have to make sacrifices they can ill afford just to keep the home up and running. The best strategy to avoid disaster is to work on cutting down the everyday household expenses associated with owning a home.

So where does the money really go? On average, American homeowners spend about 34 percent of their income on home expenses. Paying for the house itself, of course, is the largest chunk of that expenditure, but does it surprise you to know that utilities make up the next largest amount? Most Americans spend about seven percent of their income on utilities; that’s more than what they spend on entertainment, clothing for the family and even health care! Obviously, that’s an area where it makes sense to find ways to scale back. If you live in Texas, it’s even more important than it is for people in other states as Texas electricity rates are 30 percent higher than rates elsewhere.

To save money on electricity, you need to understand it. Electric companies measure energy usage in kWh, which is a measurement of the hours you spend using 1000 watts. By lowering your kWh, you will, of course, lower your electricity cost, but where do all those kilowatt-hours go? Appliances can be huge energy hogs but so can game systems, televisions and computers. Older homes are often ill-equipped to handle the energy demands of a modern lifestyle, and this can be not only costly but dangerous, as faulty electrical systems can lead to house fires. Modernizing your home can save on more than just household expenses- it might also save your life.

Fortunately, there are some easy ways to save on energy (and its associated costs). If your home is more than 20 years old, get your electrical system checked out by a professional to determine if you need any upgrades. Buy ENERGY STAR compliant appliances whenever possible, and turn off anything you’re not using, from lights and appliances to your Xbox 360.

Are you ready to lower your household expenses? It helps to find a company such as ElectricMan, committed to providing low-cost electrical services without sacrificing high-quality service. A family owned business, we offer quality electrical services, and we only employ professional, licensed, certified electricians. And we’re available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Whether it’s a general electrical repair or an electrical emergency, ElectricMan has you covered! Visit the ElectricMan website to learn more, or connect with our online community on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus.